food

Bill Yosses’ Chocolate-Chocolate Cookies

The first time I met Bill Yosses he was interviewing for the position of White House pastry chef. The Chief Usher, Gary Walters, and I had been interviewing pastry chefs for a couple of months and I was struck by Bill’s easy self-confidence and positive attitude. Then he baked for the Bushes (Gary and I taste-tested also) and everyone was sold. He went on to expand his skills even further in the Obama White House, where he found new and […]

food

The Thinking Woman’s Chocolate Chip Cookie

Everyone loves homemade chocolate chip cookies. It’s almost impossible to make a bad one. But it’s natural to be curious about the other chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. If there’s an ingredient that hasn’t been folded into the recipe for novelty’s sake at this point (bacon, chocolate, cherries), I can’t imagine what it is. Garlic, maybe. But what if you gave a chocolate chip cookie recipe the kind of close attention and precision you’d give a soufflé or sourdough […]

food

Roast Turkey with Caraway Seeds

My Bohemian grandmother used caraway seed in her cooking all the time – in soft and salty rye bread, with dill in scrambled eggs, with pork loins and bread dumplings with sauerkraut – even in the Thanksgiving sage stuffing. It has a distinctive flavor that I’ve always loved, and if you haven’t tried it on your Thanksgiving turkey, this might be the year. And the gravy from the caraway-rich drippings! Don’t miss it – it’s amazing, maybe the best thing […]

food

Butternut Squashed Soup with Lime Cream

This is a decadent autumn soup very similar to one we used to serve at the White House. It was so good that people would scrape their bowls to finish it. I like soups for a first course in the fall and winter, in small cream-colored soup bowls. The smaller, handled bowls hold just enough to whet the appetite for the rest of the meal, and it’s a simple and comforting beginning. It would make a great starter for a […]

food

Ginger Hot Toddy

What’s better than sitting around on a frosty evening with a nice hot apple-y drink to warm the cockles of your heart? I use ginger liqueur in cakes and breads, but it’s especially fab in a bracing cold-weather toddy. If you’re feeling sniffly at all, it’s like the best-tasting liquid cough drop you’ve ever had, ushering you off to a deep and dreamless sleep. Hot apple cider with a dash of cinnamon and some grated fresh ginger are easy to […]